The Age of the Secret Agent

Beginning a couple of years before we came to Father Ryan and continuing throughout the time we went to school on Elliston Place, a mania over secret agents and spies gripped popular culture and the media.

Maybe it was because of the real Cold War then underway between the United States and the Soviet Union. Whatever the reason, it all began in popular culture with the James Bond movies in the early '60s (based on the writings of Ian Fleming) with DR. NO and FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE.

While we were in school there was THUNDERBALL (1965), YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967) and ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (1969). All these movies were major hits and the tradition of the James Bond movies (the theme songs,especially the Bond theme by Henry Mancini, the special gadgets, the excitement, the danger,"shaken, not stirred," the Bond Girls) continues even today, over 40 years later. Some 22 Bond movies have been produced with another planned for 2011.

Over the years, several leading actors have played the title character, but in most fans' minds, the original is still the best to the play the role, Sean Connery....


Of course, the success of the Bond movies led to TV shows trying to capitalize on the public mania. The most successful one was THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. that ran on NBC for 105 episodes from September 22, 1964 to January 15, 1968. Starring Robert Vaughn as Napoleon Solo and David McCallum as Illya Kuryakin the show was a smash hit on top of the ratings for several years.

There are many other TV shows and even hit records that reflected our '60s fascination with secret agents and spies. We'll take a further look back at that in our next posting.

What are your memories of this era? Please leave your thoughts below or e-mail them to me at pat.nolan@dvl.com.